**A fiercely personal memoir about coming of age in the male-dominated literary world of the nineties, becoming the first female literary editor of *Esquire* , and Miller’s personal and working relationship with David Foster Wallace** A naive and idealistic twenty-two-year-old from the Midwest, Adrienne Miller got her lucky break when she was hired as an editorial assistant at *GQ* magazine in the mid-nineties. Even if its sensibilities were manifestly mid-century–the martinis, powerful male egos, and unquestioned authority of kings– *GQ* still seemed the red-hot center of the literary world. It was there that Miller began learning how to survive in a man’s world. Three years later, she forged her own path, becoming the first woman to take on the role of literary editor of *Esquire* , home to the male writers who had defined manhood itself– Hemingway, Mailer, and Carver. Up against this old world, she would soon discover that it wanted nothing to do with a mere girl. But this was also a unique moment in history that saw the rise of a new literary movement, as exemplified by *McSweeney* ‘s and the work of David Foster Wallace. A decade older than Miller, the mercurial Wallace would become the defining voice of a generation and the fiction writer she would work with most. He was her closest friend, confidant–and antagonist. Their intellectual and artistic exchange grew into a highly charged professional and personal relationship between the most prominent male writer of the era and a young woman still finding her voice. This memoir–a rich, dazzling story of power, ambition, and identity–ultimately asks the question How does a young woman fit into this male culture and at what cost? With great wit and deep intelligence, Miller presents an inspiring and moving portrayal of a young woman’s education in a land of men. **The memoir I’ve been waiting for: a bold, incisive, and illuminating story of a woman whose devotion to language and literature comes at a hideous cost. It’s Joanna Rakoff’s *My Salinger Year *updated for the age of* She Said *: a literary New York now long past; an intimate, fiercely realist portrait of a mythic literary figure; and now, a tender reckoning with possession, power, and what Jia Tolentino called the ‘Important, Inappropriate Literary Man.’ A poised and superbly perceptive narration of the problems of working with men, and of loving them.* ***– Eleanor Henderson, author of* 10,000 Saints***